I live in Toronto. You can follow me on Twitter @marcopolis.
Less than a week to go before final voting for the federal election. We’ve heard quite a lot about the ethnic (or immigrant) vote. A lot.
So, I thought I’d weigh in with some thoughts.
All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again
I’m certainly not naïve about this as political strategy and that it’s been around for many, many elections. However, I think it's a much better idea for our country to talk about the importance of including diverse voices in our political process. During an election that will decide Canada's direction for at least the next few years, we should focus not on the politics of division, but on nation building and what we have in common.
Real inclusion. Seriously.
“Ethnic communities” are not homogeneous groups that vote and think as a bloc. Thinking this way marginalizes them. This is not the politics of inclusion. I support the idea that all voices, not just votes, are important to our political process. Shouldn't we be interested in seeing all communities involved in discussions about all issues that matter to them?
Inclusion means more than pandering for votes. It means more than treating voters and entire communities as Borg-like automatons lacking free will and independent thought. Inclusion means recognizing that diversity is a strength in this country.
True inclusion means bringing the existing diversity in views, backgrounds, “visuals” into a long-term vision of nation building in our country. Not just a quick vote every four or so years. It means doing the hard work of focusing on how we can ensure, over the long-term, that all communities are included, so that they interact with and influence processes and policies that impact us all. What is clear is that we have many shared interests and values on, regardless of “who” someone is or what group they're perceived to represent or be a part of.
We are all Canadians
As part of the media narrative is slowly coming to realize, we are all diverse, but we all care about the same things – strong economy, vibrant cities, our families, health care, caring for our elders. All issues matter to all communities.
And, for those suggesting that somehow there is an “immigrant” vote out there to be had, it is important to remember that in order to vote in this country you must have Canadian citizenship. So, we're talking about Canadian voters and their votes.
It seems important to make that distinction.
Immigrant=Canadian=OUR collective interest
At the same time, is it not important for us to remember that hard-working, tax paying immigrant families are an essential part of our country? They bring innovation, interest and investment and, as all parties recognize, are part of our national strength. We should not dismiss the communities these Canadians are part of as mere vote sources.
Access to our politicians and political process is important. I like seeing our political parties reach out to diverse communities to ensure that their voices are being heard. However, members of “diverse communities” should be treated as individuals whose political perspective is shaped by more than just the country where they or their parents, or grandparents or great grandparents or great-great grandparents were born.
But what about the “ethnic media” and their very existence, you ask? “Ethnic media” media, like any other, focus their questions to politicians on issues that matter to all Canadians “including tough on crime legislation and the economy.”
It's important that all media outlets have access to our politicians. It's great that our politicians and parties are reaching out to all communities. I like that.
What I'd like to suggest to our federal politicians and parties is that it's time to focus not on issues of identity that imply a non-existent homogeneity among communities, which create division amongst Canadians. Let's focus on the issues; issues that are important to all Canadians.
What inclusion can look like
We see examples of true inclusion in the political process when we see candidates from diverse backgrounds (broadly defined) running for political office. Surely, if there was an “ethnic vote” they would most pander to it, right? What is interesting is that these candidates are not merely focused on some mythical bloc of “ethnic vote”, they’re getting down to the real issues all Canadians are interested in: “On the campaign trail, Nguyen, who arrived in Canada as a child as a refugee from Vietnam, said she’s hearing from residents that they’re more concerned about the economy than human smuggling issues.” http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/968963--tories-talk-on-human-smuggling-annoys-immigrant-voters Nguyen is running in the Vancouver-Kingsway riding, described in one publication's recent profile as dominated by visible minorities. http://www.vancourier.com/business/Visible+minorities+dominate+Vancouver+Kingsway/4527754/story.html
Like many other “ethnic” candidates, her interest in her community (read: riding) is a recognition that in its diversity there is a unity of interest and issues. Just like any Canadian, her diverse constituents are interested in the Canadian economy first. There are plenty of examples of this in the current election campaign. And, that's awesome
What is not so awesome is that, in spite of this inclusion, the pandering continues.
A long-term vision
Inclusion really means bringing people from diverse backgrounds into actual power structures and leadership roles. I like that. Having diverse voices in the election discussion is important, I agree with that. But, I think that this is an issue that scales well beyond the occasional voting opportunity and should be something we focus on all the time.
There are plenty of examples of organizations, projects, people that work closely with diverse communities and mainstream organizations to help them connect with areas of common interest and expertise to build better solutions. In nation building, what matters is not the politics of an individual vote, but the inclusion of all voices in ongoing policy and legislative development: a long-term nation building vision.
In Canada, we see diversity as a national strength. We are all individuals, and members of many diverse groups. Indeed, we are a nation of communities. But communities with shared values, interests and desires to be included.
Fairness and inclusion are core Canadian values. Inclusion means going beyond targeting people for their votes. It means including them in the discussion, leadership and power structures of our great nation. There can be no other way.
Of course, there’s also this:
Have you seen the G20 Bubbles video? It's a international hit.
If only the police were so fierce when the Black Bloc rampaged...Seriously, this guy has some amazing anger management issues. Raises a great issue that many people tweeted about. Do the police have any training in de-escalation, or just in escalating situations these days?NikishaRG wrote: " does anyone have any stats on social media & web reach w/ diverse communities? how about w/ newcomers? does the digital divide still exist?"
So, I emailed her the info below, thought it might make a useful post.The Role of Internet-based Social Support Networks in Immigrant Settlement. January 15, 2010
http://ceris.metropolis.net/events/seminars/2010/20100115WangLinWangSemPres.pdf
Presenters:
Julie Xiaoping Lin, Graduate Student, Immigration and Settlement Studies Program at Ryerson University
Shuguang Wang, Professor of Geography, Ryerson University
James Wang, Moderator of NewBridger
So, a little while ago @ryanfeeley posted this tweet:
and I thought that was a brilliant idea!
Now, I'm not a video expert, but I do want to learn more and become better, so this seemed like both a great way to learn a bit, and also express some more of my ongoing rage at the police and the powers that be who continue to embarras us post-G20 with their utter contempt for our civil rights and denial that anything unacceptable happened in Toronto or to peaceful protesters during the G20 (wow, that was a run-on sentence if there ever was one...).
Anyway, a rant about all of that is to come.
For now, here's the video I put together.
Thanks again to @ryanfeeley for the suggestion (and, really, for channelling the Office Space manager, classic)...
Oh, and many thanks to the incredible citizen journalists for their important footage. I hope you're OK with me using it here.
Coming back from the protest at Toronto Police HQ last night, I felt energized, positive, almost hopeful. It almost felt like we took something back last night. A small piece, but an important, essential immediate step a day after the unacceptable absurdities that we witnessed, that some lived.
I'm glad I went. As I tweeted last night, it was peaceful, strong, beautiful. And I thank again all who marched, but especially the organizers. You were most likely to be targeted for further oppression. You couldn't know for sure that it wouldn't happen. Thousands of cameras, live feeds, peaceful protesters didn't stop brutality and flagrant abuses of power over the weekend.Yet, you organized. You brought us together. And, we came. So, thank you.Some will say it's great that the police “let” us protest in peace. I found myself thinking those words last night. “Let us protest.” But, they don't get to “let” us. It is a right we have. Funny how they've got us thinking we don't.And, sure, the police did what we hope they would do (well, other than the overwhelming presence and riot police waiting in the background...). They did not restrict our right to protest. They controlled the traffic so that it was a safe environment. They did not get in they way. They did not provoke us.And, so we listened, we cheered, we chanted, we marched.I took some pictures, and some video (one of which shows the potential a stupid unprovoked action by the police has).
As you can see, it was pleasant, even fun. But, don't be misled. It was serious. As of last night people were still unacceptably locked up without good reason. Their rights curtailed, abused. Maybe you haven't heard the first hand stories of what it was like in detention. Maybe you don't believe all the stories. It's likely that not all the stories are completely true, that some have possibly even been embellished a bit. But, they are to be believed. And, it be-hooves us to even believe the unbelievable. Because we already know from the weekend that we should. We already know that even the seemingly unbelievable can be completely true.And, so, the onus is on the police, the politicians, to prove to us that they are untrue. The onus needs to shift to them, not to those whom they oppressed.We will give voice and pay heed to those who say they have been abused. We will uncover the truth. And, we will be, at times, disappointed. However, no more so than the disappointment we feel at the blatant lies by a chief of police who tells us not to believe our own eyes, who shockingly suggests that protesters who might have had Black Bloc members intermingled in their peaceful protests are complicit in the acts of the Black Bloc. http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/2010/06/mayor-and-chief-wrap-up-the-summit.htmlThose who run the system have lied too much to us. They do not get the benefit of the doubt.Anyway. To the police, I thank you for shaking me out of my white, male, middle class complacency. Sure, I've always worked in the community/non-profit sector, in the helping professions. I thought that this was enough. My contribution to society is good, I think. I am helping to make the world a better place, I hope. Sure, I've read enough articles about how our system of community/social supports are part of an overall system of societal oppression, keeping the miserable not quite miserable enough to completely revolt. Even knowing that, I likely won't stop working in that system.But, obviously, doing this work is no longer enough.I am awakened. I am finally politicized. I need to figure out what that means and how I will take practical steps.But, this is no passing sentiment. Not this time.It's why I felt compelled to be there last night. I went home after work, but I felt drawn. I apologized to my wonderful family that I had to go. But, they recognized my need to be there, to protest, to do something.Of course, I didn't believe that the police would attack us this time. But, I didn't believe they would attack on the weekend either. So, there was a bit of fear, I'll admit that. But, I would bear witness, take pictures, capture, document, share. I'm glad I can share a record of peace, promise and people power.But, I still fear them. Police who are meant to serve and protect me.I'm still struggling with this new reality – fearing the police. Being utterly disappointed by them. I'm not entirely sure what to do about it. But, it's not going to be nothing...
I'm finding it hard to stay concentrated on work this morning. It all seems so banal after the violation of democracy and free speech I just witnessed in my city. So, some thoughts. And, then, I'll get back to work.
I really wanted to go down to the protests yesterday to take pictures and video. I'm glad I didn't, and I'm sad that I didn't. What kept me away was fear of the police, not the protesters. This strikes me as an unfortunate thing, a bizarre thing, an enraging thing. Afraid of the police. It seems unbelievable. In the end, great instincts... An Overview Police brutality and oppression with impunity occurred this weekend in my city, which no longer feels like my city. I'm disgusted, I'm emotional, I'm angry, I'm sad. I actually feel like crying as I write this and reflect on the impact this weekend has had on my psyche. But, mostly, I'm really, really angry. The irony with all of this is that, in this day and age of everyone with a camera, everyone with access to social media, that the police actually seemed to think they could act with total impunity. I'm hopeful that this might be a tipping point for people to not accept this in our society. I'm not naively optimistic, but I refuse to believe that we are raising our son in an environment where we fear police presence and that we can no longer trust them to actually "serve and protect" us, that we cannot voice our dissent on our public streets. I've never truly been politicized, but after watching this disgusting scene unfold over the weekend, unedited by the press and the powers that be, brought to you by the people who were peacefully protesting, on all of our behalf, I need to figure out a way to start taking tangible, practical, non-violent action. Although the critical cleansing is starting to happen in the press, I hope it cannot be erased, and the current immediate, embarrassed reactions by some major media figures is heartening. Our city leaders, on the other hand, continue to embarras... Let me say up front, I, obviously, do not support the wanton destruction of property by a few "protesters." But, we must ask ourselves, as this rolls out, how is that a few police cars were "left" in the path of Black Bloc protesters. How interesting that the fires were not immediately put out, but left to burn for all the world to see. How bizarre that, just before all of this, hundreds of riot police set upon peaceful protesters in the "designated free speech zone" and drove them out (see more below). How strange that, as one tweeter put it most succinctly, ''How were 19000 cops unable to control 100 anarchists?''. How interesting that police brutality ramped up after the events of Saturday afternoon, when the "rioters", not protesters, these "organized anarchists" (oxymoron much?) that the police continue to tell us they were completely prepared for, were left utterly to their own devices, to do exactly what the police told us they would do. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but, damn...I offer you some of the scenes that I "witnessed" online this weekend, and some articles worth reading.<p>Peaceful G20 protest at Queen & Spadina from Meghann Millard on Vimeo
Some of the video below is disturbing. Maybe you don't want to watch it, but please do. It is important that we are aware of exactly what happened over the weekend.
"Is no one on the G20 police force trained in conflict resolution? Nobody trained in how to rachet *down* the tension?"
To top it off, Amnesty Canada's call for an independent review:
(This article is adapted (well, really a couple of words were searched and replaced somewhat cheekily, but I think with good, timely, relevant effect!) from this page, which was adapted from The Network Observer. Copyright 1996 by Phil Agre.)
Social Media people are fine human beings, but they do a lot of harm in the ways they "help" other people with their social media problems. Now that we're trying to get everyone online, I thought it might be helpful to write down everything I've been taught about helping people use social media.
First you have to tell yourself some things:
Nobody is born knowing this stuff.
You've forgotten what it's like to be a beginner.
If it's not obvious to them, it's not obvious.
Social media is a means to an end. The person you're helping probably cares mostly about the end. This is reasonable.
Their knowledge of social media is grounded in what they can do and see -- "when I do this, it does that". They need to develop a deeper understanding, but this can only happen slowly -- and not through abstract theory but through the real, concrete situations they encounter in their work.
Beginners face a language problem: they can't ask questions because they don't know what the words mean, they can't know what the words mean until they can successfully use the system, and they can't successfully use the system because they can't ask questions.
You are the voice of authority. Your words can wound.
Social media often presents users with textual messages, but the users often don't read them.
By the time they ask you for help, they've probably tried several things. As a result, their use of social media might be in a strange state. This is natural.
They might be afraid that you're going to blame them for the problem.
The best way to learn is through apprenticeship -- that is, by doing some real task together with someone who has a different set of skills.
Your primary goal is not to solve their problem. Your primary goal is to help them become one notch more capable of solving their problem on their own. So it's okay if they take notes.
Most user interfaces are terrible. When people make mistakes it's usually the fault of the interface. You've forgotten how many ways you've learned to adapt to bad interfaces.
Knowledge lives in communities, not individuals. A social media user who's part of a community of social media users will have an easier time than one who isn't.
Having convinced yourself of these things, you are more likely to follow some important rules:
Don't take the keyboard. Let them do all the typing, even if it's slower that way, and even if you have to point them to every key they need to type. That's the only way they're going to learn from the interaction.
Find out what they're really trying to do. Is there another way to go about it?
Maybe they can't tell you what they've done or what happened. In this case you can ask them what they are trying to do and say, "Show me how you do that".
Attend to the symbolism of the interaction. Try to squat down so your eyes are just below the level of theirs. When they're looking at social media, look at social media. When they're looking at you, look back at them.
When they do something wrong, don't say "no" or "that's wrong". They'll often respond by doing something else that's wrong. Instead, just tell them what to do and why.
Try not to ask yes-or-no questions. Nobody wants to look foolish, so their answer is likely to be a guess. "Did you attach to the file server?" will get you less information than "What did you do after you turned the social media on?".
Explain your thinking. Don't make it mysterious. If something is true, show them how they can see it's true. When you don't know, say "I don't know". When you're guessing, say "let's try ... because ...". Resist the temptation to appear all-knowing. Help them learn to think the problem through.
Be aware of how abstract your language is. "Get into the editor" is abstract and "press this key" is concrete. Don't say anything unless you intend for them to understand it. Keep adjusting your language downward towards concrete units until they start to get it, then slowly adjust back up towards greater abstraction so long as they're following you. When formulating a take-home lesson ("when it does this and that, you should try such-and-such"), check once again that you're using language of the right degree of abstraction for this user right now.
Tell them to really read the messages, such as errors, that social media generates.
Whenever they start to blame themselves, respond by blaming social media. Then keep on blaming social media, no matter how many times it takes, in a calm, authoritative tone of voice. If you need to show off, show off your ability to criticize bad design. When they get nailed by a false assumption about social media's behavior, tell them their assumption was reasonable. Tell *yourself* that it was reasonable.
Take a long-term view. Who do users in this community get help from? If you focus on building that person's skills, the skills will diffuse to everyone else.
Never do something for someone that they are capable of doing for themselves.
Don't say "it's in the manual". (You knew that.)
I live in Toronto. You can follow me on Twitter @marcopolis.
I live in Toronto. You can follow me on Twitter @marcopolis.
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